EQUIVALENCY EVIDENCE OF THE ENGLISH COMPETENCY TEST ACROSS DIFFERENT MODES: A RASCH ANALYSIS

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the educational landscape in a way unseen before. Educational institutions are navigating between offline and online learning worldwide. Computer-based testing is rapidly taking over paper-and-pencil testing as the dominant mode of assessment. In some settings, computer-based and paper-and-pencil assessments can also be offered side-by-side, in which case test developers should ensure the evidence of equivalence between both versions. This study aims to establish the equivalency evidence of different delivery modes of the English Competency Test, an English language assessment for civil service officers developed and used by the Human Resources Development Education and Training Center, a civil service training institution under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia. Psychometric analyses were carried out with the Rasch model to measure the unidimensionality, reliability, separation, and standard error of measurement estimates. The findings demonstrate that the paper-and-pencil and computer-based versions of the language assessment exhibit comparatively equivalent psychometric properties. The computer-based version of the English Competency Test is proven to offer a reliable and comparable alternative to the paper-and-pencil version

EMBRACING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS CRITICALLY TO EXPLORE LIFE PURPOSES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

English language teacher education is not only about making students who learn to teach English focus on language teaching, learning, and use but also about how teacher educators can delve into the life purposes of themselves, their students, and their students’ learners. The role of a language teacher educator is hence pivotal in orchestrating learning materials and activities that allow students to explore life purposes at individual, community, and international levels. As a scholar interested in critical language teacher education, one of my life purposes is to nurture my students’ criticality. To illustrate how my student performed criticality over time, in a case study, I explored my dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a learning material with one focal student in my Critical Pedagogy & Literacy class from January to April 2019 and beyond, even after she graduated. Criticality was demonstrated when she problematized oppressive words and actions and envisioned social transformation as she learned (to teach) English. A narrative analysis of the data also suggests that the student’s life purpose (e.g., to empower her fellow Papuan people) aligns with that of her instructor and her Papuan English language learners. Implications for critical language teacher education are discussed

SPECIALISED LEARNER CORPUS RESEARCH: A REVIEW FOR FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF THE GLOBAL AND MALAYSIAN CONTEXTS

Literature survey concerning the Learner Corpus Research (LCR) in the last 20 years has shown a paucity of studies involving specialised/discipline-specific text. Since the use of discipline-specific academic writing learner corpora is useful in determining the language pattern within the English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) context, this paper presents a review of specialised LCR based on journal articles from the Web of Science database and the Google scholar, reference books and relevant websites to address the gap both globally and within the Malaysian context for future needs. The review suggests the need for more specialised/genre-specific or discipline-based learner corpus studies employing the non-native novice versus native novice and expert comparative method in both global and Malaysian contexts, with more studies executed in relation to specialised learner corpora in the latter. In relation to linguistic aspect, the understanding of lexical bundles’ communicative function can be attempted through the analysis from the core word to the surrounding pattern or discourse. The use of learner corpus as a pedagogical instrument needs also to be well-accepted and executed to enhance the teaching and learning of academic writing in ESAP classrooms via Data-Driven Learning approach or corpus-related activities

IMPLEMENTING GAMIFIED VOCABULARY LEARNING IN ASYNCHRONOUS MODE

Gamified online quizzes have gained popularity for their potential in enhancing student learning motivations, creating engaging lessons, and improving learning outcomes. Yet, its application and effectiveness in support of student vocabulary learning have only been explored in synchronous learning setting. This study, hence, extended the exploration by examining the implementation of gamified vocabulary learning in an asynchronous mode and analyzing the impacts on students’ learning outcomes in class. The study was carried out for 10 weeks, involving 300 2nd year students at a Thai university. The instrument and measure comprised 500 English academic words made into 10 vocabulary sets on Quizizz.com, and 10 in-class vocabulary tests. The findings of the study revealed that students’ vocabulary learning practice in asynchronous mode had positive correlations with and could significantly predict their in-class vocabulary results. Female students outperformed male students; nonetheless, there was no significant difference across academic majors

INDIVIDUALIZED GUIDANCE TO EMPOWER AN L2 LEARNER WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER IN ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING

The present study was conducted to see the extent to which intensive online individualized guidance sessions could help a second/foreign language (L2) learner of English with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at an undergraduate level to write an academic essay in the education field with citations and references. The sessions, 30 minutes each, were conducted 14 times in total during the second semester of the 2020/2021 academic year. Teaching journal detailing the participant’s learning dynamic in each session, the participant’s ongoing writing progress, and the recorded videos of the sessions were used to assess this learner participant’s learning progress. The study found that through the individualized guidance sessions, the learner participant could write a 326-word academic essay with citations using three journal articles in the Indonesian language as the references. It also found that as the participant became more familiar with the pattern of the sessions and the expectation of what to do in each session, he could do his task faster and more confidently. Based on the findings, several pedagogical implications and possible research contributions are stated along with suggested directions for future studies in the field of autism in the L2 learning context

ENGLISH LEARNING GOALS AND WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS IN A JAPANESE EFL CONTEXT

This study examined the differences in English learning goals and specific actions for goal achievement according to the degree of willingness to communicate (WTC) among Japanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners through qualitative analysis. This study aimed to ascertain: 1) the characteristics of English learning goals among learners with higher or lower levels of WTC, and 2) the differences in learner actions for goal achievement among learners with higher or lower levels of WTC. The participants were 84 undergraduate students in Japan, and they were divided into high-WTC and low-WTC groups using the WTC scale (Peng & Woodrow, 2010). Open-ended responses of the goals for learning English and actions for goal achievement were compared between these two groups using KH Coder 3. Coded data were analyzed in a co-occurrence network diagram. Results showed that high-WTC learners tended to have high-level goals, whereas low-WTC learners tended to have the lowest possible goals. High-WTC learners also had more interest in foreign countries and studying abroad. Furthermore, high-WTC learners tended to take a variety of specific actions for goal achievement, while low-WTC learners took rather general and common actions. The results showed clear differences between these two groups

ADAPTING AND TRANSFORMING ELT DURING AND POST COVID-19 ERA: PEOPLE, PLACES, AND PURPOSES

This article discusses the adaptations and possible transformations in ELT during and post COVID-19 times. The traditional focus for ELT is often a narrow perspective on teaching methodology, epitomized by the “3 Ps” in ELT- Present, Practice, Produce. We argue for a realignment of focus to “People, Places, and Purposes” in ELT and a focus on addressing social issues. We frame our discussion on the notion of being ultra-social and illustrate the creativity and adaptability in language use during the pandemic. Questioning the deeply held assumptions in ELT, we propose transformative action on social issues: speaking, shifting boundaries and sustainability.

THE USE OF CHATGPT IN ACADEMIC WRITING: A BLESSING OR A CURSE IN DISGUISE?

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT has left people feeling ambivalent and disagreement among scholars, academicians, educators and the community at large prevails. While the artificial intelligence could potentially revolutionize how research is conducted and how research papers are written, a number of ethical concerns arise. In particular, the world of academia has reservations pertaining to whether this language model will actually do more good than harm, especially as far as academic writing is concerned. This paper argues that the cutting-edge technology is here to stay and the question is not whether to accept it, but rather, how to best utilize it judiciously, cautiously and responsibly to improve research performance by strictly adhering to academic integrity and transparency. Potential benefits and drawbacks of ChatGPT will be critically examined in light of current literature and, when relevant, potential solutions to the drawbacks will also be provided or commented on. Needless to say, the use of artificial intelligence in academic writing is still in its infancy and more discussion and debates pertaining to its use and merit are highly urged. This paper contributes to these on-going debates

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: INDONESIAN NOVICE EFL TEACHERS’ TENSIONS AND NEEDED SUPPORTS DURING PANDEMIC

The abrupt changes in the situation and policy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic might dwindle novice teachers’ well-being and add more pressure to their minds that are already clouded with uncertainty. If left untouched, it is more than likely that they would quit teaching entirely. Nevertheless, while challenges, struggles, and tensions experienced by novice EFL teachers have long been studied and well-documented, the novice EFL teachers’ tensions experienced during the pandemic and the supports they need have not been examined. By analyzing guided reflections and interviewing five Indonesian novice EFL teachers, the present research is to answer two questions: 1) What kinds of tensions are experienced by Indonesian novice EFL teachers during the time of the pandemic? 2) What kind of supports do they need to stay in the teaching profession? The result shows that novice teachers experience tensions related to pedagogical-technical, a sense of belonging to the teaching profession, and culture-relationship, which are caused by the abrupt shift to online learning and excessive workload. To mitigate and ease these tensions, needed supports from the government and policymakers, school and school leaders, or colleagues are also discussed

EXAMINING THE CONTENT ALIGNMENT BETWEEN LANGUAGE CURRICULUM AND A LANGUAGE TEST IN CHINA

This study examined the content alignment between an English as a foreign language skills curriculum and a provincial language test in China. When there is misalignment in the content between the standards of a curriculum and a test, conclusions about student abilities and teaching effectiveness can be questioned. To examine this, three categories of alignment were investigated using document analysis and expert judgment: categorical concurrence, range of knowledge correspondence, and balance of representation. Eight reviewers coded the curriculum and test items. Results showed that the curriculum aligned across the three criteria for the listening and reading skills. For the writing skills, the range of knowledge correspondence and balance of representation criteria were met, but categorical concurrence was not. The test did not include speaking items, so there was complete misalignment with that curriculum. The findings showed that the test partially aligned with the curriculum, suggesting that performance may not fully represent students’ ability to meet the curricular standards. We recommend that future tests should comprehensively cover all of the content in the curriculum and when doing so to ensure there is a sufficient number of items measuring each objective. This would improve how accurately interpretations of student performance can be made